Updates on IK and SR products from Squids

[Squids]

Hey all. I am writing from Frankfurt Musik Messe day before the show here in the booth. I thought I'd give a little update on the progress of things at IK and SR since I know all the inside scoop (and of course can't really tell you anything substantial but... I'll do my best here).

Miroslav Philharmonik: We're looking at end of May perhaps for a release. It sounds fantastic. I really like how it is coming out. It's stream-lined for composition in a really nice way. Very natural and REAL sounding. The players show up already in their proper acoustic space position. This is awesome when you are building up tracks. You have the real ambience of the Dvorak Symphony Hall and the placemenet of the orchestra without having to do anything. You also have some great options such as the real instruments range and then an extended range sometimes using the new stretch to achieve a super realistic "would be nice if" possibility. The option of using the 11 violins or the 23 violins definitely sets it apart from a lot of other high end orchestral collections. I'll be talking more about it in the coming weeks.

NEW IK effect product. Aha. The plot thickens. I wonder what it is! You'll find out pretty soon. It is something that the studio needs and engineers love. That's all I can say about that but keep your eye out for the press release. I've heard it and it is just... well, it fits right in with the new level of quality products IK has announced (like AT2, Ampeg etc.) I'll give you a hint. The first two letters of it are CS. Hmmmmmmm (no, not another CS80!)

AmpliTube 2 & Ampeg SVX are coming along nicely. We'll be showing that at the booth as well. I really love the way they are laid out. This is much more like a guitarist expects to see their gear. The configurable pedal board just kills me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it... especially because I've always been a big stomp box pedal collector for years. It's a secret production tool to sound like any authentic rock band... in combination with the right amps and superior modeling which AmpliTube 2 has. Ampeg SVX is just NEEDED very bad in most people's studios (especially since most people don't have a hardware bass amp unless they are a bass player and even then... do they have $20,000 of bass amps?).

SampleTank 2.1 XL: As some of you know IK and SR are going through the XL sound set and beefing it up. Some nice additional material. I am loving the new updated engine. What a great thing for ST2 users since the engine update is free. The new sound set is only $99 which is totally worth it (same price as a single disc Expansion Tank but it comes with gigs of new stuff and selections from the other lib and modules too). The upgrade to ST2.1 with the sounds is even free if you bought SampleTank 2.0 since March 1st,2005.

Studiophonik: It's coming. This is a monsterous task to do it the way I really want. But, you'll appreciate the extra effort if you want to be a virtual Jack Joselph Puig. Oh, speaking of Jellyfish, Roger Manning has a new solo album coming out. It sounds a big Jellyfish-ish. He's using Sonik Synth 2 and other SR products in a big way.

So, you may be wondering if there are any new Expansion Tanks or Sonik Capsules? Yes, perhaps so but we're not announcing them yet. They may arrive at any time.

One of the bigger news for SR is the downloadable esoundz stuff that is imminent. Rob is just uploading gigs and gigs of great stuff for you to get from anywhere in the world. There will be official news soon but support for these formats is expected:

SampleTank 2 (unbelievable archive of material for SampleTank users)

Reason 3 (You know SR is part of the factory sound bank now. This esoundz material as well as the refills on propshop will be a great source for Reason users especially with Combinator modules)

HALion 3
Motif ES (aha, live? I do.)
EXS24
GarageBand (oh really)
Project 5 ver 2 (is that so? )
Emulator X (perhaps so)
Mach 5 (hmmmm)
Giga 3 (oh yeah)
Kontakt 2 (we're apart of the factory sound set. So we'll be doing some nice sounds for download specifically for it as well)
Battery 2 (naturally)

and more. But, we'll be starting with a whole heck of a lot of SampleTank 2 stuff since there are so many users. Instant.

More unofficial Squids-news coming soon.

[Frunobulax]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like lots of cool stuff is on the horizon.

CS eh? Every studio needs one? Might that be a Channel Strip?

[Squids]

Nope! But, good guess.

Thanks.

[tdm71]

"SampleTank 2.1 XL: As some of you know IK and SR are going through the XL sound set and beefing it up. Some nice additional material. I am loving the new updated engine. What a great thing for ST2 users since the engine update is free. The new sound set is only $99 which is totally worth it (same price as a single disc Expansion Tank but it comes with gigs of new stuff and selections from the other lib and modules too). The upgrade to ST2.1 with the sounds is even free if you bought SampleTank 2.0 since March 1st,2005. "


Squids am I missing something? You stated that the sound set as well as 2.1 is free for ANY ST2 user if they bought after JAN 1st:


"Oh, well I should mention that one thing we'll probably be doing is allow anyone who bought ST2 in say the last month (from Jan 1st) up until the time ST2.1 comes out (Q2 some time I think) to have the sound update on the house."

Can you please clarify this??

THANKS

[Meffy]

Isn't it obvious? It's a Car Stereo emulator.

[Frunobulax]

Isn't it obvious? It's a Car Stereo emulator.

It seems so obvious now!

[Frunobulax]

Squids am I missing something? You stated that the sound set as well as 2.1 is free for ANY ST2 user if they bought after JAN 1st:

"Oh, well I should mention that one thing we'll probably be doing is allow anyone who bought ST2 in say the last month (from Jan 1st) up until the time ST2.1 comes out (Q2 some time I think) to have the sound update on the house."

Can you please clarify this??

If I recall correctly, I believe what Squids was saying in that earlier post is that you could still get the updated sounds for free from eSoundz if you bought STXL2 from eSoundz after Jan. 1. I think when Squids is referencing March 1st above, he is referring to the standard IK policy where STXL2 was purchased at retailers other than eSoundz.

[Rellik]

so Philharmonik is not dry samples after all? Well ... I guess I could live with that... have to see

And the instruments are pre-positioned - are the samples actually recorded in stereo from their normal positions, or is their pan parameter just pre-assigned? I would hate to be stuck with panning positions that I didn't want, and be unable to change them since that would mess up the stereo positioning and make it sound artificial - hopefully it's just pre-set pan knobs.

Hm... not a good day for Rellik's orchestral plans... maybe I should have gone in on the Gold group buy after all... but who knows! Maybe something better and with a good price will come along after all and it's nice to hear about the SampleTank 2XL library upgrade!

[hao nao]

I'm thinking "CS" must be "Csardas" which can add a little paprika to any mix

have fun at Musikmesse, Squids!

[tdm71]

Squids am I missing something? You stated that the sound set as well as 2.1 is free for ANY ST2 user if they bought after JAN 1st:

"Oh, well I should mention that one thing we'll probably be doing is allow anyone who bought ST2 in say the last month (from Jan 1st) up until the time ST2.1 comes out (Q2 some time I think) to have the sound update on the house."

Can you please clarify this??

If I recall correctly, I believe what Squids was saying in that earlier post is that you could still get the updated sounds for free from eSoundz if you bought STXL2 from eSoundz after Jan. 1. I think when Squids is referencing March 1st above, he is referring to the standard IK policy where STXL2 was purchased at retailers other than eSoundz.

So if you bought ST2 at one place you get three months grace time and get it for free but if you bought it from the manufacturer of the software from an authorized dealer you get just over a month????

How is that fair?

[hao nao]

I think that between the "probably" and "If I recall correctly" we should wait for a clarification from the Head Chef himself

might not be till sometime next week though, since (as you know) Squids is attending the Musikmesse in Frankfurt

[harmony gardens]

I'm gonna take a guess that CS is Control Surface.

[SaviorNeeded]

Well, I'm guessing Squids is the new Csar of Russia.

Tom

[Squids]

"SampleTank 2.1 XL: As some of you know IK and SR are going through the XL sound set and beefing it up. Some nice additional material. I am loving the new updated engine. What a great thing for ST2 users since the engine update is free. The new sound set is only $99 which is totally worth it (same price as a single disc Expansion Tank but it comes with gigs of new stuff and selections from the other lib and modules too). The upgrade to ST2.1 with the sounds is even free if you bought SampleTank 2.0 since March 1st,2005. "


Squids am I missing something? You stated that the sound set as well as 2.1 is free for ANY ST2 user if they bought after JAN 1st:


"Oh, well I should mention that one thing we'll probably be doing is allow anyone who bought ST2 in say the last month (from Jan 1st) up until the time ST2.1 comes out (Q2 some time I think) to have the sound update on the house."

Can you please clarify this??

THANKS

Hmmm. Officially from IK I think it is March 1. I was speaking for esoundz, which would do that its customers of course. We did a lot of the sounds for the new sound set. Hope you like it!

[Squids]

Squids am I missing something? You stated that the sound set as well as 2.1 is free for ANY ST2 user if they bought after JAN 1st:

"Oh, well I should mention that one thing we'll probably be doing is allow anyone who bought ST2 in say the last month (from Jan 1st) up until the time ST2.1 comes out (Q2 some time I think) to have the sound update on the house."

Can you please clarify this??

If I recall correctly, I believe what Squids was saying in that earlier post is that you could still get the updated sounds for free from eSoundz if you bought STXL2 from eSoundz after Jan. 1. I think when Squids is referencing March 1st above, he is referring to the standard IK policy where STXL2 was purchased at retailers other than eSoundz.

So if you bought ST2 at one place you get three months grace time and get it for free but if you bought it from the manufacturer of the software from an authorized dealer you get just over a month????

How is that fair?

It is fair because sometimes we simply do our best to take care of our customers on esoundz. Consider, for example, that we are BUYING the sound set to GIVE to our customers that purchased it before March 1 (but after Jan 1). Is that okay? Would it be better if we didn't????

IK dealers don't sell this sound upgrade normally. It's only direct from IK. We can only sell it on esoundz because we were involved in making the sounds.

Can you ever win when you try to do something that is accomodating? Maybe you should buy from esoundz if you want to get some bonuses with regard to sounds. There's also a special free set of sounds I am doing just for Sonik Synth 2 and SampleTank 2 customers who purchased from esoundz as well. That's how we give added value to the experience. That's our thing: e- SOUNDZ.